Former Miami High School Football Star Arrested For Punching Texas Tech's Star Women's Basketball Player

Nigel Bethel II, a former standout at Miami's Booker T. Washington High who went on to be recruited by Texas Tech, found himself behind bars and off the team after punching the school's star women's basketball player.

The incident went down Saturday in the Lubbock, Texas school's rec center. Bethel was playing a game of pickup basketball that involved Amber Battles. The details are unclear, but Bethel ended up hitting Battles so hard that she'll require surgery for a broken bone.

Bethel, a cornerback, was a highly regarded recruit as part of the class of 2014. He received offers from the University of Miami and several other school, but eventually decided to sign with the Red Raiders. He was the school's highest rated recruit, and had only recently only arrived on campus to attend summer classes.

Following the incident he was promptly kicked off the team, but will be allowed to complete his summer classes.

"Texas Tech Athletics has a zero tolerance policy on this type of behavior," the school said in a statement.

More seriously Bethel now faces felony charges for the attack that according to the arrest report involved his "hands, fists, [and] feet."

"It definitely caught us off guard," Tim Harris, Jr., his former coach at Booker T, told The Miami Herald. "He's a kid that's been in our program for four years, and we've never had this kind of situation with him before."

Battles had lead the lady Red Raiders with an average of 16.4 points per game last season, and was selected to the All-Big 12 second team. She's expected to undergo surgery to fix a broken bone.

Harris said that Bethel has already received interest from other schools.